PROJECT SUMMARY
In 1977, the city of Great Falls, Montana, entered into a public-private partnership with Veolia Water (then Envirotech) to manage its new wastewater treatment facility. This year, Veolia Water celebrated its 30th year serving the Great Falls Community consisting of more than 63,000 within a 17-mile radius. The nation's second-longest running public-private wastewater partnership. The contract with the city to operate and maintain the 21-MGD plant as well as 31 lift stations was renewed in 2004 for another 10 years. Veolia Water also oversees capital projects at the plant and assists with the industrial pretreatment program by collecting and analyzing all required samples.

Over the course of 30 years, Veolia Water has provided superior operations, delivered significant costs savings and assisted in several plant upgrades. In addition to several safety, operations and individual awards listed below, Veolia Water has operated and maintained the facility without ever experiencing a major permit violation, a record that is almost unprecedented.

The public-private partnership has also generated significant costs savings for the public entity. For example, superior process control and maintenance protocols have led to reduced energy and chemical consumption and preservation of capital. Combined with Veolia Water's economies of scale, these have enabled the city to realize several million dollars in savings since 1977. In addition, the project and its employees have contributed significant financial aid and personal time to numerous Great Falls community causes throughout the partnership. Some of the most worthy causes are: Girl Scouts; Easter Seals; Great Falls Symphony; C.M. Russell Art Auction; River's Edge Trail; and Great Falls Military Affairs Committee. The successful partnership between the Great Falls community and Veolia Water is an excellent example of how public and private entities can develop long, mutually beneficial relationships that include high-quality service and award-winning operations.

Originality
Several factors make this partnership original an unique:

• Formed in 1977, the partnership is one of only two wastewater public-private agreements in North America to have reached a 30-year continuous service milestone.
• Developed and created a prototype with the city for a unique chlorine-ring system for improved disinfection.
• The contract structure allows Veolia Water to design, build and operate small capital improvements at the plant.
• Contract renewals is included incentives for Veolia Water to invest margin dollars locally in economic re-development projects. For example, Veolia Water responded by contributing significantly to the startup of the Source Giant Springs Bottled Water Company and to the operation of the McLaughlin Research Institute.
• Additionally, the recent contract renewal gave Veolia Water the opportunity to provide a significant loan and matching grant to relocate a major corporation to the city of Great Falls.

Quality
Veolia Water is proud of its implemented and ongoing safety and quality program. After 30 years, the plant has an impressive safety record, boasts profitable operations and has received numerous operations, safety and staff awards from the state and the USEPA Region VIII including:

• 1990 - Zimpro Plant of the Year Award for "the best record of operation, performance and innovation among plants using equipment supplied by Zimpro Passavant". The facility operated two 50 gpm Wet Air Oxidation units to treat solids from 1977 to 2003.
• 1991 - Recommended to Region VIII as an "outstanding example of good operation" by the Montana Department of Environmental Quality - Montana Water Quality Bureau.
• 1991 - Region VIII O&M Excellence Awards from the USEPA for "outstanding operations and maintenance of a large secondary wastewater treatment facility."
• 1991 - National O&M Excellence Awards from the USEPA for "outstanding operations and maintenance of a large secondary wastewater treatment facility".
• 1998 - Governor's Safety Award for "commitment to and promotion and implementation of effective safety and health programs."
• 1992 and 2004 - George W. Burke Safety Award from the Water Environment Federation "for recognition of excellence of its active and effective safety program and safety record".
• 1992 and 1996 - William D. Hatfield Award from the Water Environment Federation "in recognition of outstanding performance in wastewater operation, management and advancement of knowledge in the field of water pollution control".
• 2002 - Operator of the Year from the Montana Water Environment Association "for outstanding performance and professionalism in the field of water environment".
• 2003 - Best Overall Safety Program for Veolia Water West Business Center.
• 2007 WEF Quarter Century Operators Club "recognizing service and dedication of the water environment professional".
• 20 individual awards in 30 years from Veolia Water for achieving one year without a lost time accident superb operational safety.

In 2007, the Great Falls staff celebrated seven years without a lost-time accident, which can be attributed to a strong emphasis on operational excellence, monthly safety meetings, peer audits and extensive training. The plant has also operated for more than four years without a recordable accident.

Implementation
Great Falls officials have commercial that Veolia Water is not a contract operator but an extension of the public works staff. For the past 30 years, Veolia Water has worked with the Great Falls community to review and implement a myriad of projects at and around the wastewater treatment facility which include, but not limited to:

• In 2005, Veolia completed a five-year SCADA-system implementation that involved new instrumentation and controls, at the pump stations and the plant. Veolia Water completed this task at significantly reduced cost.
• In 2004, Veolia produced a 30 percent design document for the cogeneration system currently in place at the facility. This document was later provided to the primary engineer for the project to assist with completing the design.

Economics
The public-private partnership has yielded the city of Great Falls several million dollars in savings through reduced facility operating and capital costs by maximizing Veolia Water's operational expertise and economies of scale. During the original design and startup of the project, Veolia Water invested heavily, at its own expense, in training employees, resulting in a problem-free startup that provided high-quality treatment services to Great Falls quickly by reducing impacts from facility disruptions.

Veolia Water has willingly gone above and beyond the confines of the contract at no extra cost to the city to do such things as:

• Conduct an intensive two-day confined space training rescue course for Great Falls Fire and Rescue.
• Play a significant role in the new anaerobic digester and centrifuge dewatering complex by attending all of the design meetings, reviewing all of the plans, advising during the construction and developing SOPs for the effective startup and operation of the systems.
• Conduct a complete bio-energy study for the city to determine the most effective and economical method for beneficial reuse of digester gas. As part of this study, plant maintenance personnel erected 3-foot x 100-foot anemometer tower to study wind speed and direction at the facility to determine if wind energy was a feasible alternative to purchasing power from the local provider.
• Write a guideline the city could use in procuring an engineering firm to conduct a technically based local limits study as required by the USEPA.
• Contributed several thousand dollars to assist the city's participation in a mutual aid agreement between the Great Falls and Naryn, Kyrgyzstan. The money was used to purchase a garbage truck to be used in Naryn and to provide travel and expenses for city of Great Falls management team's visits to Naryn.
• Conduct safety training for several smaller cities throughout Montana.

Public-Private Partnership
This is a true public-private partnership in the sense that the facility is wholly owned by the city of Great Falls and operated and maintained by Veolia Water. "For the past 30 years, Veolia Water has safely operated and maintained our wastewater facility to the highest state and EPA standards," said John Lawton, Great Falls city manager. "The company has demonstrated its commitment to the health and well-being of the community and the local Missouri River through its superior technical operations and thousands of hours of volunteers support for local organizations. We are excited to reach this historic milestone and look forward to continuing this partnership, which enables us to maintain our quality environment while expanding our economy and bringing new business to Great Falls."